The popular poker site Full Tilt has emerged in recent years as a possible playing destination for some of the world’s elite players, in all sorts of varieties. None other than World Football Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, is thought to have an account under the alias of ‘CR7sete’ on the site, indicating the Real Madrid forward is just as much a fan of high pressure situations with his chips, as he is with the ball at his feet.
Granted, these rumours surfaced a few years ago, back in 2010, so times may have changed and Ronaldo may have since strayed away from the tables. But when he did play, CR7 had a reputation for winning a few big hands, while his form on the pitch reached unprecedented heights. Ronaldo scored 53 goals in 54 games for Real Madrid in the 2010/11 season and who was it who guided him to that form? Yes, that’s right. It was none other than master tactician, Jose Mourinho, who had begun his first year at the Bernabeu prior to the start of the campaign.
The world of football has adapted since then and Mourinho has returned home to Stamford Bridge for a second spell as manager of Chelsea in the Premier League, but seeing as his pitch-protégé Ronaldo tried his hand at online poker, we thought we would take a moment to consider just how well the ‘special one’ would fare at the tables amongst some of the coolest heads in poker today. Likewise, if you want to try yourself, or you just want to scour the tables for Ronaldo, then you can download the PokerStars poker software here and get started. Once you have completed your poker download, there will be nothing stopping you from going all in against your online rivals!
For now however, it’s back to Jose and his bag of tricks, as we believe he would be one of the craftiest card players in the game should he take to the tables. He is already evidencing he would be a master of the bluff technique, as he continually denies Chelsea’s title ambitions this season, despite the Blues sitting pretty at the top of the table, four points clear of second placed Liverpool with just eight games left to play. Granted, Liverpool have a game in hand on Chelsea, but Mourinho knows what he is doing and taking the pressure off his players as the race for the title heats up.
Not only is Mourinho an excellent bluffer, but he is also a tactician. He knows when to strike and pick teams off. Not only can Mourinho systematically tune his sides to defeat almost any rival side across Europe, but Jose also knows a lot about making timely killer blows. In poker, that attribute is key and Mourinho proved he was a master of it back in the 2009/10 season, as he steered Inter Milan to Champions League glory. That feat was impressive enough, but holding on to a slender advantage against Barcelona, at the Nou Camp, is something not many sides can achieve, but Mourinho got his tactics spot on and the results paid dividends.
